Risks Of High Blood Sugar During Pregnancy – What happens if your sugar levels are high during pregnancy? For most women, your doctor will recommend changes to your diet and exercise routine. But for some women, a doctor may recommend medication to lower blood sugar levels. Keep reading to learn more about how high blood sugar can affect your pregnancy and what you can do to control it.
Some women may experience increased blood sugar during pregnancy. Gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) or gestational diabetes is the medical term for this condition. Gestational diabetes usually develops around the 24th to 28th week of pregnancy.
Risks Of High Blood Sugar During Pregnancy
It’s important to note that just because you have gestational diabetes while you’re pregnant doesn’t mean you already have diabetes or will develop it later. However, gestational diabetes increases the risk of developing type 2 diabetes later.
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It can also lead to diabetes in the baby and problems for you and your baby throughout pregnancy and birth if not treated properly.
The American Diabetes Association (ADA) recommends that doctors test pregnant women for symptoms of gestational diabetes on a regular basis. When you are 24 to 28 weeks pregnant, your doctor will likely test you for gestational diabetes even if you have no history of diabetes and normal blood sugar levels at the beginning of your pregnancy.
If you have any of the following blood sugar levels considered high during pregnancy, you will most likely be diagnosed with gestational diabetes:
Although the actual cause of gestational diabetes is uncertain, it is most likely due to hormones. When you’re pregnant, your body produces more of certain hormones, including human placental lactogen (hPL) and other hormones that increase insulin resistance.
Blood Sugar Levels During Pregnancy
Your placenta is affected by these hormones, which help maintain your pregnancy. Over time, your body’s production of these hormones increases. Insulin, the hormone responsible for controlling blood sugar levels, can become resistant to your body as a result of this process.
Insulin is a hormone that helps transport glucose from the blood into cells, where it is converted into energy. Pregnancy naturally causes your body to become mildly insulin resistant, so more glucose can be transferred to your baby through your system. Your blood sugar can rise too much if your insulin resistance is too great. It is possible that this will lead to gestational diabetes.
During the first eight weeks of pregnancy, the baby’s organs such as the brain, heart, kidneys and lungs begin to develop. According to sources, in the early stages of pregnancy, high blood sugar levels pose a risk of birth defects such as heart and brain abnormalities, which can affect your baby’s health.
Pregnancy-related high blood sugar levels can also increase the risk of premature birth, excess weight or difficulty breathing, or low blood sugar soon after birth. High blood sugar levels can also increase the risk of miscarriage or stillbirth.
A Guide To Gestational Diabetes
Regulating blood sugar levels is important during pregnancy, for the health of the mother and fetus. Pregnant women should apply the following tips to control blood sugar levels.
Carbohydrate consumption and appropriate meal choices are important. It’s important to keep track of the amount of carbs you’re consuming in a variety of foods such as breads and cereals, fruits and vegetables, milk and yogurt. Sweets should be avoided as they can cause blood sugar levels to spike.
Sugary foods such as cakes, cookies, candy and pastries easily increase blood sugar levels. These foods are often high in fat and low in nutritional value. Sugar, honey or syrup should also be eliminated from your diet.
A glass of juice has many pieces of fruit. It instantly increases blood sugar levels due to its liquid nature. For the same reason, stay away from regular and sugary soft drinks. You can use diet drinks instead.
Treatment Of Gestational Diabetes Mellitus Diagnosed Early In Pregnancy
Because pregnancy hormones peak in the morning, managing blood sugar levels can be difficult. Even before you eat, these hormones can cause your blood sugar to rise. Dry cereals, fruit, and milk are not the best choices for breakfast because they are absorbed quickly and cause blood sugar levels to spike.
Whole-grain bread, brown rice, wild rice, whole-grain oats, barley, millet, and other whole grains are all good choices. Peas, lentils, and any type of bean (pinto, red, black, or garbanzo) are all better choices. In contrast to processed grains like white bread and white rice, which are high in sugar, whole grains like these are high in fiber.
Fruits are healthy, but because they contain natural sugars, limit your intake to one serving per day. Twelve small pieces of fruit, 1 large fruit or about 1 cup of mixed fruit is one serving of fruit. Canned fruit in syrup should be avoided. Fruit juice should not be consumed.
When you eat too much at once, your blood sugar can spike incredibly high. Snack between meals and eat smaller portions. During pregnancy, your nutritional needs increase and your baby depends on you for adequate nutrition.
Hyperglycemia Symptoms And Signs
According to the American Diabetes Association, recommended goals for pregnant women when testing their blood sugar are as follows:
High blood sugar during pregnancy is a condition that can occur in any trimester. While gestational diabetes is the most common cause of high blood sugar, there are other causes that need to be ruled out. Treatment for high blood sugar during pregnancy depends on the underlying cause.
Maintaining healthy blood sugar levels is important for both mother and baby. If you are pregnant and concerned about your blood sugar levels, please consult your doctor.
We hope you find these suggestions helpful and we look forward to seeing you during your 3D ultrasound session. Meanwhile, we will be happy to advise you on the ideal time for you to come in for a private 3D ultrasound. For more information please contact us.
Gestational Diabetes Vs. Diabetes: Symptoms, Causes, Treatment
A Date With Baby is a 3D/4D pregnancy ultrasound clinic with the highest standards of care and has been the top-rated facility of its kind in Toronto and Newmarket since 2015! Visit us to see why thousands of customers are satisfied with our services! If you have gestational diabetes, a healthy and nutritious diet and regular exercise often help normalize blood sugar levels and maintain the health of mother and fetus. However, sometimes, your doctor may prescribe insulin during pregnancy to maintain your blood sugar levels in the normal range (1). But how can someone get gestational diabetes (GD) during pregnancy?
During pregnancy, the placenta in the woman’s uterus secretes hormones necessary for the baby’s development. However, these hormones can reduce insulin action and cause GD in some pregnant women.
Women with diabetes don’t produce insulin or their bodies stop responding to natural insulin, increasing blood sugar levels. Their endocrine system is affected because it affects the production or function of insulin, leading to high blood sugar levels. Therefore, insulin is necessary and may be prescribed to facilitate maternal glycemic control (2).
Both fasting blood sugar and postprandial blood sugar levels during conception and pregnancy are important for normal healthy fetal growth and maintenance of normal fetal development. Glucose intolerance (the body’s inability to metabolize blood sugar) during or before pregnancy can lead to certain complications. Insulin treatment helps maintain these levels if diet and exercise do not provide adequate control.
How To Control Diabetes In Pregnancy
The graph presented depicts changes in serum insulin levels throughout pregnancy. It revealed that in women without diabetes, insulin secretion typically increases from the 10th week of pregnancy, reaches a maximum around the 40th week, and then decreases significantly.
However, in gestational diabetes, serum insulin levels decrease from around the 20th week and decline deeply by the 40th week. Therefore, this decrease in insulin levels leads to an increase in hepatic glucose production, leading to elevated fasting blood sugar levels during the second and third trimesters.
Source: Diabetes in pregnancy; Obstetrics and Gynecology Clinics of North America Is insulin safe to treat gestational diabetes during pregnancy?
In prenatal care, insulin is the first-line treatment for type 1 and type 2 diabetes and uncontrolled erectile dysfunction during pregnancy (3). According to the American Diabetes Association (ADA), insulin given via injection, insulin pen, or insulin pump is safe for pregnant women (4). Your doctor will tell you to take insulin if necessary.
Pregnancy And Heart Disease
Guidelines from the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) recommend insulin as the first-line treatment for gestational diabetes that cannot be controlled by lifestyle and nutritional changes during pregnancy.
The US National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guidelines recommend initial treatment of insulin resistance with or without metformin for women with complications of gestational diabetes (6). Insulin is only available in injection and pump form.
Other oral medications, such as metformin, may be prescribed to treat gestational diabetes and mild hyperglycemia. However, this is not standard practice. (6).
According to an article published in the American College of Clinical Pharmacy, intermediate-acting neutral protamine Hagedorn (NPH) insulin, long-acting NPH, long-acting insulin glargine, and regular or short-acting insulin have may be considered by the physician treating GD (6).
Normal Blood Sugar Levels Chart For Pregnancy
Insulin should be injected
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